


Choices-A Waking Up in Vegas One Shot

by thatcrazywriterley



Category: Professional Wrestling, Seth Rollins--fandom, WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: "The beginning of the end" according to Seth, F/M, teenage romance, waking up in vegas one-shot, what happened during that blow up fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:40:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24082210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatcrazywriterley/pseuds/thatcrazywriterley
Summary: Right after high school graduation, Seth Rollins (Colby Lopez) is planning on going to Chicago to train at a wrestling school. And he expects his high school sweetheart, Mera Reynolds, to go with him But Mera's just gotten a full ride to the college of her dreams. (Connected to Chapter 39 of Waking Up in Vegas).
Relationships: Seth Rollins|Colby Lopez/Mera Reynolds (OFC), Seth Rollins|Colby Lopez/Original Female Character
Kudos: 4





	Choices-A Waking Up in Vegas One Shot

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_(GIF owned by deanseths on Tumblr)_

_Seth/Colby, Evening, 8:43 PM_

It was just starting to get dark. The cicadas were out, and there was a train coming somewhere in the distance. The air was sticky and sweet with summer flowers and the Mississippi in the fading heat. Mera had her fingers laced with mine as we walked up and down the blacktop of the street where I lived. It was our version of a date since we were both broke, even though we both had jobs.

“I miss the front yard matches,” she said on our second pass in front of my house. Her head was turned toward it, and the streetlight turned her gilded hair to a halo. “I wonder if we can get those tapes converted to DVD, you think?”

I grinned and squeezed her hand. “Solid idea, Bear. DVDs are easier to copy. I can send them out to the indies.”

She smiled a little and nodded. “I’ll email Mrs. Lawrence from school. See where they got the graduation DVDs done.”

I tugged her against my side and pressed a kiss on the side of her head. “What would I do without you?”

“Fall apart _completely_ ,” Mera replied, bumping against my shoulder.

We walked along in silence for a while, tracing a well-worn path up and down Clark Street, through the loop in front of the community center and back around again. This was my favorite part of the day, walking with Mera Reynolds. Almost every day for ten years—ever since we were nine—we’d made the loop. At first, my older brother Brandon walked with us. Then, slowly, it became something just for the two of us.

“So, I’ve been talking with my mom and dad,” I said, swinging our hands between us as we started around the community center circle. “About training more in Chicago.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Are they going to help pay for wrestling school?”

“Kind of?” I stopped and reached over to take both of her hands in mine. She looked at me with those pure amber eyes like molten gold. I loved looking at those eyes. “Mom isn’t going to pay for wrestling school, but… she’s willing to put up the money for a place for us to stay. If we’ll agree to pay her back half of it.”

Mera’s brows knit together. She tilted her head, watching me as if she couldn’t believe it.

“I know it’s a lot,” I continued, kicking at the pavement with the toe of my shoe. “But it’s less for us to worry about, right? She and Dad are willing to pay for utilities too. You could transfer to one of the stores in Chicago so you’d keep your job.”

_Mera, Evening, 8:55 PM_

It took a moment for the words to sink in. He was talking about Chicago. _Moving_ to Chicago. And he was talking about it like we’d been planning this. Like it was something we’d decided on.

“Bee,” I said, looking at a spot over his shoulder. The words caught in my throat, and I had to force them out. “I got in. To Iowa State. I got in on a full academic scholarship.”

Colby stared at me for a while. He blinked, confusion clouding his deep brown eyes. A frown tipped his lips downward. “That’s great, Bear.”

I sighed and leaned against the light pole. “You don’t look too excited.”

“It’s just… how…” He ran a hand through his hair and looked around. “How can you be in Chicago and at Iowa State at the same time?”

My head tilted back against the wood. I closed my eyes and breathed deep, begging for courage. “I can’t, Colby. I can’t…”

He looked me over, chewing on his bottom lip. His brow furrowed in concentration. “But you can do online classes and stuff, right?” His eyes brightened and he nodded, as if the whole thing had been solved. “You can do it from Chicago.”

Lead dropped into my stomach as I pushed away from the light pole and stood up. “I don’t want to go to Chicago. I _want_ to go to college.”

_Seth/Colby, Evening, 9:03 PM_

“You still can!” I insisted. “Lots of people get degrees online.”

Mera crossed her arms and walked a few steps away. When she turned around, there was fire in her amber eyes. “I don’t _want_ to do that! I _want_ to go to college and live in the dorms and actually _go_ to classes. I want football games and parties and _college_.”

“But Mera… we’re going to Chicago,” I said. I felt my face twist in confusion. Why was she acting like this? “We talked about it. We decided.”

“No, Colby,” she said, squaring her shoulders and taking a few steps back. “We might have talked about it, but _you_ decided. You never asked me what I wanted.”

I tried to close the space between us, but she kept moving. “This is what we’ve wanted for years, isn’t it? This was the plan. It’s _always **been**_ the plan.”

“Your plan!” she shouted back, her voice echoing down the street. She stormed off back toward my house. Halfway there, she stopped and whirled on me. “This is what you want, Bee. You’re the one who wants to go to Chicago. I want to go to college.”

“You still can!” I shouted back, surprised to find I was angry. I caught up with her in a few steps. “Why are you being so difficult?”

She let out a sound that was half snarl and half growl. “I WANT TO BE NORMAL!” Mera practically screamed the words in my face. Her eyes were bright, and her face was tinged red. “I don’t want to move to Chicago. But you never listen when I say so.”

We’d reached my driveway. She stood a few feet away, looking for everything as if she were going to bolt and run. The thought made me simultaneously angry and terrified. “Say what you really mean, Mera! Say it!” I roared. I had the sudden urge to shake her, but I balled my fists up against my thigh instead.

“I want you to listen to me,” she shouted back. “I have dreams too!”

I paced, feeling my fingernails dig into my palms. “Come on, Mera. Say it! Get it over with!”

She stopped, her eyes glistening with tears. “What do you want me to say?!”

_Mera, Evening, 9:08 PM_

Colby looked me dead in the eye and snarled, “That we’re over!”

There was an ache in my chest that felt like someone had reached in and ripped my heart straight out of my body. I felt sick. Like I was going to vomit. “That’s not…” I wanted to cry. “That’s not what I want!”

He threw his arms out to his sides. “It sounds like that to me,” he yelled. Colby took two steps forward, crowding me toward the side of his mom’s car. “Sounds like you want out! Like you want a life without me!”

“I never said that,” I shouted back. “I just want to go to college, Bee!”

“Five hours away from me.” He interlocked his fingers behind his head. Suddenly, his face went red and I could see his jaw clench as his eyes filled with tears. “I can’t… I can’t do this without you, Bear. Please…”

My heart broke even though I was still desperately angry. “Don’t. You don’t get to do that. I should get a life, too. I get to have dreams, too.” I pushed forward, my heart racing as he retreated back a few steps. “Not everything is about you, Colby Lopez!”

I took a great gulping breath, afraid of the words that were boiling in my brain. They were on the tip of my tongue. When they came out, I was sure that everyone in Davenport heard. “ _If you think it is, then maybe we should be over_!”

Before I could say another word, the front door of his house banged open. His older brother, Brandon, and his mom, Holly came barreling out of the house, both looking worried. Brandon went straight to Colby and dragged him up the driveway toward the garage. Holly came straight down to me, reaching me just before I collapsed into a heap of tears on the blacktop.

_Seth/Colby, Evening, 9:14 PM_

Brandon wrapped his arms around my waist and dragged me backward. The next thing I knew, my older brother had me pinned against the side of the garage, his forearm tight over my chest.

“Relax,” he said firmly. “Relax.”

I felt the anger rush out of me, quickly replaced by a feeling of loss and sadness. All I could think was that Mera was leaving… she was leaving me. She was going away. It felt like a punch to the chest. I gagged and slumped back, feeling dizzy.

“Where’s Mera?” I pled weakly, trying to see down to the end of the driveway. Brandon was blocking my view.

“With Mom,” my brother said simply. “And you need to get your ass in the house. The whole neighborhood heard you two shouting at each other. You’re lucky none of them called the cops… they just called us.”

I felt sick. I could feel the vomit rising in my throat. Brandon struggled when I pushed hard at his shoulders, shoving him out of the way. I sprinted toward the grass and puked into the bushes, feeling like my guts were burning. My vision blurred and I sank onto my knees, head hanging, chin against my chest.

“Did we break up? I don’t know if we… I need to talk to her. I need Mera,” I gasped, trying to get to my feet. Brandon stepped up, blocking my view of her. The tears felt like acid on my face. “Where is she?”

Brandon shook his head. “You need to get a grip on yourself. Let Mom handle her.”

_Mera, Evening, 9:16 PM_

Holly took me by the hand and pulled me to the end of the driveway. Then she wrapped me in a tight hug as I cried.

“What’s he done, honey?” she asked soothingly. “What stupid thing has he done?”

I only sobbed harder, thinking of the way we’d shouted and snarled and yelled at each other. Of how _angry_ and _vicious_ we’d both been. He was close by, but it felt like hundreds of thousands of miles.

“He… I got into college, Holly,” I whimpered against her shoulder. “I got in and all he could talk about was Chicago.”

“Oh, Mera, congratulations. I know you worked so hard for that,” Holly encouraged, kissing the side of my head. “I’m sorry my son is an idiot.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “I think… I think we broke up…” My head throbbed and I could feel the heat rushing into my face. I was lightheaded. “I need to go home. I’m… I feel sick. I…”

Holly pulled back and looked me over, cradling my face in her hands. Her eyes went dark with worry. “I see it,” she said, lightly touching the tip of her finger to my nose and cheeks. “Come on, sweetheart, I’ll walk you home.”

_Seth/Colby, Evening, 10:58 PM_

The phone rang and rang. It went to her voicemail. Every text I sent went unanswered. _She can’t be asleep_ , I thought as I paced my basement bedroom. _I can’t sleep right now. How can she sleep?_

I tried again. And again. When she didn’t answer the twentieth call, I threw my phone on the bed and sank down against the wall. Mera had helped paint this room, even the portal to RVD’s place—though she’d looked at all of us like we were morons—when I moved down here. Now, all I could see was her name spray painted in the corner by the stairs.

_I didn’t mean it. I don’t want to lose her,_ I thought desperately, _I can’t lose her. I didn’t mean it, Mera. I don’t want to be without you._

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I whispered, my head held in my hands. “If you ever give me the time of day again, I’ll make it up to you. I swear.”


End file.
